Obama to campaign in Michigan and Georgia in final weeks of midterm elections
By Dan Merica, CNN
Former President Barack Obama will travel to Atlanta and Detroit for campaign events in the final weeks of the midterm elections.
The Democratic Party of Georgia said in a statement Saturday that Obama will campaign with Democratic candidates on October 28. It was unclear which Democrats the former President would stump with in Georgia, which is home to high-profile races for governor and US Senate.
Obama will then join Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, among other down-ballot Democrats, at a get-out-the-vote rally on October 29, Whitmer’s team said in a statement. Michigan and Georgia also have competitive US House races and critical down-ballot contests, some of which feature GOP nominees who have spread false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party announced on Friday that Obama would campaign with Democratic nominees in Milwaukee, also on October 29.
In an interview with “Pod Save America” that aired Friday night, Obama pointed to down-ballot races as an important test for the Democratic Party.
“One of the things I want to emphasize in this midterm is the importance of looking not just at the top of the ballot, but all the way down the bottom, because there are governor’s races, secretary of state’s races, state legislative races that are going to really matter,” he said. “It may turn out that in a close presidential election at some point, certification of an election in a key swing state may be at issue. And, it’s going to a be really important that we have people there who play it straight.”
Obama won both Wisconsin and Michigan in 2008 and 2012. He did not win Georgia in either presidential campaign, but now-President Joe Biden won the state in 2020, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.
“Given the high stakes of this year’s midterm elections, President Obama wants to do his part to help Democrats win next month,” an Obama spokesperson told CNN. “This is why he headlined four finance events in recent months for the key campaign committees and will campaign in targeted states as part of Democrats’ final GOTV stretch. He looks forward to stumping for candidates up and down the ballot, especially in races and states that will have consequences for the administration of 2024 elections.”
The former President headlined a fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee on August 31, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on September 8, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on September 28, and the Democratic National Committee on September 29.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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CNN’s David Wright, Veronica Stracqualursi, Omar Jimenez and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.
